US rethinks Ebola approach
October 13, 2014
The US must reconsider how it approaches the Ebola threat, said the country's top health official, after the infection of a nurse in Texas while caring for a dying patient.
"We have to rethink the way we approach Ebola infection control because even a single infection is unacceptable," said Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The female nurse who contracted the virus had cared for Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan, when he fell ill in Dallas. Duncan died last Wednesday, and the woman, whose identity has not been revealed, developed a fever a few days later.
She is the first individual to have contracted Ebola on US soil. The woman is in a "clinically stable" condition, Frieden told reporters on Monday.
On Sunday, Frieden told reporters that a "breach of protocol" was the reason for the woman's infection. He has apologized for appearing to blame the woman, saying he felt "awful" upon learning of the case.
"All of us have to work together to do whatever is possible to reduce the risk that any other healthcare worker becomes infected," Frieden said. There has been concern that the patient had contracted the disease despite wearing safety gear.
US President Barack Obama was due to meet with top officials in Washington on Monday to discuss the government's response so far to Ebola.
More than 4,000 people have died of the Ebola virus in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization, with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone at the heart of the outbreak.
A Spanish nurse assistant recently became the first health care worker infected outside West Africa in the ongoing outbreak, after she helped care for a missionary priest who was brought from West Africa to a Madrid hospital.
Calls to strike in Liberia
Health workers in Liberia largely defied calls to strike on Monday, reporting for duty at the country's hospitals. Nurses and health care workers - though not doctors - had threatened to strike if they did not receive hazard payments promised by the government.
Ninety-five Liberian health workers have died so far in the epidemic. Their surviving colleagues want pay commensurate to the risk of dealing with Ebola, which has overwhelmed the country's health service.
Germany assesses risk
Germany's health minister said on Monday that it wasn't inconceivable that Ebola could reach Germany, but unlikely. Three overseas Ebola patients have received treatment in Germany so far.
"Expert health assessment shows a very, very minor overall probability of Ebola infection in our own country or the entry of an infected Ebola patient," said Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe.
"Nevertheless, we are preparing for such contingengies; we are prepared and were able to help accordingly in the case of the three infected people who received treatment in special German centers," said Gröhe.
jr/tj (AP, AFP, Reuters)